Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (RBEC) was hosted by the Parliament today.

Rati Ionatamishvili, Deputy Chairman of the faction “Georgian Dream”, and Ketevan Kvinikadze, Secretary General, toured the Parliamentary Palace with the guests and briefed them on the activities carried out by the Parliament to improve the quality of access for people with disabilities.

"It was critical that we follow universal design principles and adapt the legislature to all categories including persons with disabilities, ensuring that they had access to both infrastructure and information. Nonetheless, we believe that we need to intensify our efforts in this area, and we are continuing to work on an action plan, which is currently being elaborated on by the Parliament, and which will serve as an example of how administrative bodies can have access to universal design principles. It is critical that we work on these issues in collaboration with the community of people with disabilities, and that the process is carried out in this manner”, - Rati Ionatamishvili stated.

Rati Ionatamishvili and Ketevan Kvinikadze briefed Mirjana Spoljaric Egger on the steps taken to adapt the premises, increase access to services for persons with disabilities and raise the relevant qualifications of the staff of the Parliament. The guest inspected the electric crane platforms installed under the adaptation plan, the tactical paths and steps arranged for the disabled and got acquainted with the information on the full adaptation of the Parliament website and the special skills of the staff needed in order to provide a complete service when communicating with persons with disabilities.

"The Parliament has put in a lot of effort to modify the Parliamentary palace, which has been rather tough because we are dealing with a building that has been designated as a cultural heritage monument, necessitating the allocation of additional resources. We are pleased with the outcomes. The new website, which is entirely accessible, is noteworthy in terms of increasing the participation of people with disabilities in parliamentary activity. Many remote services are available on the website, allowing the visitors to participate in parliamentary proceedings from afar”, - Ketevan Kvinikadze remarked.